Monday, July 13, 2009

The cynical opportunism behind the United States' position on the Honduras coup seems to be revealing itself following US "negotiation" efforts between Zelaya and the usurper Micheletti. It is what is being referred to as the "Haiti Option" (in reference to the terms of Jean-Bertrand Aristide's return to Haiti following the 1994 coup). Zelaya can return to the Presidency solely as a figure head to finish out his term while the coup government effectively remains untouched, the possibility of convoking a National Constituent Assembly and rewriting of the constitution (which could possibily threaten US military and corporate interests in Honduras) taken clear off the table. Taken from Diana Barahona's blog via Machetera:

Associated Press:Clinton would not discuss specifics of the mediation process, which she said would begin soon, but a senior U.S. official said one option being considered would be to forge a compromise under which Zelaya would be allowed to return and serve out his remaining six months in office with limited powers.

Zelaya, in return, would pledge to drop his aspirations for a constitutional change that might allow him to run for another term, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the diplomatic exchanges.

My sense of what the international community is demanding, and what is correct, is first of all that Zelaya should return to the presidency, though not necessarily to power. The presidency and power are two different things. Number two, he has to end his plans to amend the constitution, which won't be much of a problem. Number three, he has to put some distance between himself and Chavez. That's essential. Number four, there has to be some kind of power-sharing agreement, whereby Zelaya remains at the helm of the government but some other people chip-in in the main decisions that are to be made between now and the next election in November. Number five, there has to be some kind of amnesty, for lack of a better word, where everybody turns a blind eye on the pervasive illegal behavior of all the parties involved, because all of them have acted with illegal behavior and have acted with total disregard for the rule of law. Sadly for Honduras, they will have to turn a blind eye to all of that. At this point, no party is in a position to demand accountability from anybody. There's no such thing as high moral ground in Honduras at this point.

However, we can hope, as some observe, that Zelaya has the balls to hold his ground and refuse such offensive compromises.